A quick-start guide on how to plant herbs, even if it's on your window sill.

Amidst the myriad activities held (check out the iProperty.com FB page here), one of them was the Me Eat Shoot Roots booth where we gave away seeds, soil, and pots to visitors at the expo. The main objective was to encourage green living by planting our own edible herbs at home.

Prior to the expo, I went out to buy some seeds myself so that I may experiment with planting the herbs. The herb of choice? My favorite arugula leaves, or popularly known as rocket salad.

For those not in the know, rocket leaves are mainly used in salads. Although not very health-conscious myself, I find its taste pleasantly intriguing. The leaves are crunchy-chewy, each bite an incredible explosion of taste that borders onto nutty and peppery. In short, it’s a rather interesting herb that will excite even the most jaded foodie.

And so, it was with a wee bit of trepidation that I started Project Rocket.

Little plastic pots? Check.

Little peat pellets*? Check.

Rocket seeds? Check.

Step 1: Soak the pellets.

Step 2: Upon full expansion, place inside pot.

Step 3: Place seeds into soil.

Step 4: Place pot onto planting container half-filled with water.

Instead of watering the pots every day, I submerged them in a container half-filled with water so that the soil soaks up the much-needed H20 whenever it has to.

My home is pretty small (at the moment) but this is no excuse not to indulge in some good old indoor planting. :) I simply placed the pots on the window sill where they’ll receive plenty of sunlight. And you should too, because sunlight is life and life is sunlight. Mm-hmm.

Within days, the first seedlings were spotted!

Excited, I made sure there was enough water each day. Whenever the water gets lower, I would replenish the container with fresh water.

Before long… tadah!

The little sproutlings are so adorable! This made me realize that indoor gardening really is possible, and can be a quite rewarding act in itself. Never mind that I’m not going to plant enough herbs in my tiny little studio apartment. It’s the thrill and amazement that floor me, that indescribable feeling when you’re certain something won’t work, but oh, it did, it DID work after all! Sipping mint tea by the window in the evenings, I’d gaze lovingly at my little sproutlings and think: “Mm-hmm, I gave them life.”

This little experiment aside, the ME EAT SHOOT ROOTS giveaway was quite a success. I love it when kids and adults alike waited happily for the seeds to be doled out, and then planted them in their little pots, eager to bring them home and foster their “green children”.

I hope they have a herb-ally ever after. :)

* Peat pellets are dried, compressed soil that will expand and be fit for planting after being soaked in water.